The most recent phone affected by the injunction, the Galaxy S3, was released in 2012 long enough ago to be eclipsed by slicker smartphones in the rapidly evolving market for mobile technology.
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The USA’s top patent court has said that Samsung should be banned from selling some of its older phones, unless certain features are disabled, due to its infringement of Apple’s patents.
The Thursday ruling by the US’ top patent court goes against US District Judge Lucy Koh’s verdict, in which an injunction after trial was denied. And Apple was already awarded monetary damages for Samsung using the software approach; the ruling takes things a step further by eliminating Samsung’s ability to use the features.
“We want to reassure our millions of loyal customers that all of our flagship smartphones, which are wanted and loved by American consumers, will remain for sale and available for customer service support in the USA “, Samsung said.
“This case… presents issues of surpassing importance to the United States economy”, Apple argues in the court filing, according to Fortune.
“Judge Reyna’s concurrence in Apple v Samsung would essentially overrule (underrule?) eBay altogether”, he wrote. Just remove those patented features and Apple will be happy.
Samsung’s Galaxy S6 edge was named phone of the year, beating the iPhone, while Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality headset won the design innovation award.
Apple appealed, saying the district court got it wrong when it failed to recognize that Apple would lose market share and sales from Samsung’s infringement.
The ruling in favor of Apple said that the company has invested billions of dollars over several years and hence there was a significant risk involved as well.
Considered as Apple’s biggest rival, Samsung might be forced to modify its products following court decision on Thursday.
Calling Apple’s injunction request “unfounded”, a spokeswoman said Samsung will ask the full slate of Federal Circuit judges to review yesterday’s decision.
For Samsung, the ruling applies to older models including the Galaxy S2 and Note 2 that have been superseded by current devices such as the S6.
Apple has potentially won the right to stop Samsung selling phones that used its technology without proper permission.
“The right to exclude competitors from using one’s property rights is important”, the court ruled.
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One of the reasons that Koh may have decided not to impose the injunction against Samsung is that Apple has reported soaring profits and iPhone sales. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
